Music Features

The cover of Black Sabbath‘s self-titled debut, which came out 50 years ago today, has become one of rock’s most iconic and captivating album sleeves. A witchy-looking woman stands alone in the woods in a haunted underworld, staring out at you, clutching something — her cloak? a cat? When listeners …

In our new series, we look at eight cities where live music has exploded — from legendary hubs like Chicago and Nashville, to rising hot spots like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Portland, Maine. We also look at some far-flung destinations where the music the music is worth the journey. One of …

My Chemical Romance‘s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004),their second full-length and first on a major label, was a tentpole record in the burgeoning emo-punk scene. The black-and-red wearing, eyeliner-donning New Jersey boys took a massive risk when they returned in 2006 with the decidedly un-emo but very theatrical LPThe …

When David Bowie began writing songs for Hunky Dory, in 1970, he had little to show for the six years he spent trying to make it as a singer. His first three albums had tanked, and he didn’t have a record deal. Then, in January 1971, Bowie arrived in the …

Young artists who blow up thanks to a sudden surge in viral interest often hit a wall when trying to repeat a breakout single. This was not a problem for Juice WRLD last year. After the heartbroken “All Girls Are the Same” announced him as a commercial force, Juice WRLD …

Spotify, whose losses are an evergreen music-biz talking point, just turned a quarterly profit. This news not only came as a surprise to the music industry at large, but to Spotify itself. The streaming company previously forecast to its investors that its operating performance in the three months to end …

I ’m sitting here trying not to choke up,” Justin Vernon says, “listening to Jenny Lewis say such nice things about me.” It’s a laid-back Friday afternoon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which has been Bon Iver’s home base since Vernon founded the avant-pop band back in 2006. He has been …

Kesha‘s follow-up to 2017’s emotionally weighty, rock-leaning Rainbow started off as what she describes as a “psychedelic country record.” But a phone call from her brother sent her in another direction. “He was like, ‘Why don’t you write some pop songs?’ ” she says. “ ‘You’re good at it, you like it.’ ” …

L ana Del Rey is sitting across from Elton John in the kitchen of his Beverly Hills home, where she’s about to talk with her musical hero. But there’s a problem. “Wait a minute, my notes!” she says. “I have 13 pages! Where is my purse?” Elton calls for his …

When Ozzy Osbourne took a fall in January, he thought he broke his neck. “I came down really, really hard,” he tells Rolling Stonefrom his Los Angeles home. “I went slam — on my face.” He had gotten up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom …